A recent post on marag's journal reminded me that I plan to take credit for Obama's election, should it come about.In my X1-based fiction, the movie takes place in 2006 (it was made in 2000 and says it's set in the "not so distant future"). My first series is behind the scenes during the movie but everything else takes place after that, during the period from 2006-2012.

Like the movie, my fanfic has US politics as part of its backdrop. I got to a point in the story where I needed to come up with someone who would be POTUS. I rejected the idea of just making up a name, because with the stories just a few years in the future I felt anyone who would be elected president in 2008 would be someone at least somewhat known in 2005, when I was writing that part of it. So... the President of the United States in my fanfic is Barack Obama. He doesn't show up directly in any scenes but he's referred to from time to time and both Charles and Scott meet with him. Obama in my fiction is not a uniformly positive figure - he does agree to the War on Mutants - but he learns from his mistakes and becomes a supporter of mutant rights. And he has this to say about Charles Xavier, as quoted in the New York Times obituary:

“I am saddened to learn of the death of Charles Xavier, a great man and a great American. A tireless supporter and defender of the oppressed everywhere, Charles was a man of great vision and even greater empathy and compassion. I am proud to say that he was my friend and will miss him terribly.”

So if there is a President Obama getting sworn in in January of 2009, you heard it here first.